Chaos
by Zenes
Summary: Atem wins the Ceremonial duel and stays in this world. He has recovered his memories, only to discover that there are even more mysteries hidden in his past. And the past isn't done with him yet...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Gi Oh, although I'm leasing the characters for a rough ride.**

**Some things I'm laying down first.**

1\. I'm basing this story on the original Japanese anime and throwing in some detail from the manga(They actually came up with a good reason for Atem to

leave in the anime. Although that makes me suspect to this day that he lost the Ceremonial duel on purpose).

2\. If you have only seen the 4kids dubbed version, _**please**_ go to Youtube, find a clip of the Japanese anime and listen to the characters. I really prefer

that you don't read this story thinking that Atem booms all the time in a way too deep voice(I'm sure Dan Green is a wonderful actor, but he sounds **_old_**),

and that Kaiba sounds like an evil, half-witted sour loser.

3\. Some of my own canon: At the time of Duelist Kingdom Yugi was 16 and in his 1st year of high school. Memory world is about half a year later

\- Yugi is 17 and is nearing the end of the 2nd year of high school. His height went from 168cm to 173cm during the events of DM(Takahashi kept his height

as 153cm through out the entire story-that's cruel!). Kaiba was 18 when it all started, 20 now. Mokuba is 5 years and half younger than him. Atem was 18

and 178cm when he died.

4\. I am completely ignoring Death T and all the fight between Kaiba and Yugi that took place at the beginning of the manga and season 0. Yugi and Kaiba

never met until the finals of Duelist Kingdom. Yugi wasn't fighting for his grandfather's soul, but only trying to win a prize to help out Jonouchi for his sister's

surgery. Pegasus invited Yugi because Shadi told him about the Puzzle and was curious. His wife didn't die. (I always thought it was ridiculous that he tried to

take over an entire corporation when he could have just put in a commision to have his wife's hologram made.) Industial Illusions also developed the

hologram technology used in the duel rings. The 'solid vision' of Kaiba Corporation is a different technology all together(by the time of DSOD, people are

getting blasted off their feet during non-shadow game duels). Kaiba was competing because he was trying to get his company involved with Duel Monsters,

and Pegasus's condition was that Kaiba defeat him. Pegasus took Kaiba's soul because he wanted to tamper with it to bring back the memories of the high

priest.

5\. In the anime Yami was thinking about saving Sugorouku when he gave the attack that would have killed Kaiba. In my canon, he only did it

because he recognized the risking of life as Kaiba's pride. People have dueled and killed each other for pride and honor throughout history, and as a king from

ancient times, he would have been familiar with the mentality. (The loss of memories doesn't seem to have damaged his basic personality that much.)

You should remember that several times he put his own life on the table as a chip.

6\. Muto Sugoroku died when Yugi was 14, and that's when Yugi got the puzzle. Yugi's parents died even earlier. But he didn't have to support himself.

Since the yu-gi-oh world is advanced enough to have holograms, all this took place sometime in the middle of the 21st century. It is an age where robots

and AI do all the menial work and governments provide their citizens with the basic nesscities of life.

7\. Takahashi modeled Atem on Tutankhamun and got his name from the sun god Aten. I'm thinking Scorpion King and another deity.

8\. I'm changing some stuff about the Items. The **Eye**(Not in the shape of an actual eyeball, just a circlet) can see the past and present, including people's

minds, and the bearer can assess all that to predict the future. The **Ankh** has the power to heal and also give life to inanimate objects. The **Mirror** can make

illusions and can also turn them into reality. This belonged to Pegasus and is partly responsible for all the freakish things going on with Duel Monsters. The

**Key** could open and close space to make portals to another location or can also seal off little bubbles of a different dimension. The **Rod** has the power to

brainwash and also to deliver commands to many people at once. Priest Seto was the head of the army in ancient times. The **Ring**(a bracelet and not a

pendant) had the power of fusion. Priest Mahad used it to fuse Kas together, or to fuse the material world with the spiritual, enabling the him to affect

the material world more deeply with magic. Bakura used it to fuse portions of his soul into objects. The **Weight**(that's the original name before it became

a puzzle) can tip the scales of the Law of this world to change fate and even physical reality.

* * *

Kaiba opened his hand to look at the Millenium Key. 'That wasn't a dream.'

He momentarily closed his eyes, before calling, "Yugi!"

Surprised, Atem caught the golden object tossed at him.

"It is what you need, is it not." Kaiba strode past the group.

"Millenium Key?"

"Why do you have something like this?"

"Kaiba..." Atem called hesitantly, unsure what to make of it. He'd never found out why Kaiba was here.

"Hey, Kaiba!" Jonouchi was more insistent. "Wait a sec. Give a proper explanation, will you!"

An explanation was exactly what Kaiba was avoiding, so he kept his quick pace to the stairwells, intent on getting away. He needed room to think...

But the sight that met his eyes caused him to stop dead in his tracks, muscles tense for a fight.

Bakura was coming down the steps. He was staggering, but Kaiba wasn't taking any chances.

"Whoa," exclaimed Jonouchi, who had caught up with Kaiba. "Bakura!"

"Oh, guys..."Bakura's eyes wandered around the room. "Where are we?"

"What do you mean, where... Don't you remember anything?" Jonouchi asked.

"Oh, right...somebody came after me and then..." Bakura faltered. He swayed, then fell forward.

"Hey!" Jonouchi caught the boy. "Hey, wake up!"

"I'm hungry..."Bakura mumbled before completely slumping against Jonouchi.

"Yak! Hey, he's out."

"Oh well," Honda said, smiling in relief. If food was the foremost thing on Bakura's mind he couldn't be seriously hurt. "Let's get him outside in fresh air."

"Yeah..." Jonouchi shifted his position so that he and Honda could both hold their friend. He paused when he spotted the Ring on Bakura's arm, and slipped it off.

"Here," he handed it to Atem. "It's probably best if you keep it."

"Yes," Atem took the ring. Carefully he examined it, but he found no traces of the darkness it used to bear. So it was finally over..

"Anzu, we could use a hand!"

"Coming!"

Atem turned around to look at the tablet again, and saw two objects on the floor near them- the Mirror and the Ankh. He went to pick them up.

'Shadi,' he thought sadly. 'Your soul perished, too... Thank you.'

He stood up, and took a few more steps toward the tablet.

'Seto,' He spoke silently, knowing better than to speak to the man waiting behind him. 'The memory world would have been different from what really happened, but after

I was sealed in the Millenium Puzzle, you governed Egypt well.' Atem had his memories back, but his last moments were hazed with exhaustion and pain, preventing

him from recalling their last conversation clearly. Yet he doubted it was anything like the relatively calm exchange that had occured in the memory world. The real

Seto had been ready to die and follow his king... 'And you had this Tablet of Memory engraved. Now that Zorc is gone, I also...'

/Other me.../

/Let's go, partner./

S

"All 7 items are together in your hands," said Isis. "Now..."

"Yes," Atem answered. "I will seal them with my own hands, so that no one can tamper with them anymore."

"Seal them?" Anzu asked.

Atem smiled in answer. "That is my last duty."

"I knew that, but..." Anzu faltered. "That means that...your soul also have to return to the afterlife, doesn't it?"

Atem lowered his eyes. He knew, but he was not happy about it.

Marik and Isis looked at each other and nodded.

"Your grace, in the shrine of the Dead that us Tomb Keepers have been guarding, the Tablet of the Nether World is enclosed. The inscriptions in the shrine say: Thou

who would open the Door to the Nether World, place the 7 Items in the Tablet, and as the last key, declare the Name of the King."

"The King's name..."

"Atem?"

"Atem!" Isis repeated, smiling. "Is that your lost name?"

He nodded.

"Now all the pieces have been gathered," said Isis. "Does your resolution remain unchanged?"

He nodded again. "Yes."

"Then, we will lead you to the shrine."

* * *

NOTE: Those were the scenes from the anime, with as close translations I could make without sounding weird, and leaving out a few lines for the sake of brevity.

I'm avoiding the word 'Pharaoh' because in this story Atem is supposed to be a king from 4000 years ago and they didn't use the title 'Pharaoh' in that age.

By the way, in this particular anime episode I was shocked to find that Kaiba chose to ride in the same car with Jonouchi rather than Yugi. Think that meant anything?


	2. Chapter 2

Atem closed his eyes and smiled, dipping his head in acknowledgement of the point scored. He knew now exactly why believing in one's deck, why the bond between the duelist

and his monsters affected the draw. It was that understanding that had given him the total control over his cards for this duel. And the fact that Yugi's draw could match his

own, meant that Yugi had found his own mainstay.

Yugi's greatest strength-the unwavering belief in human nature-was also his

greatest weakness. It prevented him from taking other people's ill intentions seriously. In games, it prevented him from predicting his opponent's moves. But taking things to

the extreme always achieved some sort of result. Yugi's ability to sympathize with others had enabled him to read Atem's thoughts-he had seen through the calm facade to

read the painful state of indecision between life and death, and the inevitable attraction to the card that sported the ankh. If he could do that now, the same ability would one

day enable him to face people truly.

Atem opened eyes to look at his partner. Yugi was crying, and it pained him, but he had to leave. The Items were too dangerous, and the best thing to do was to separate

them completely from this world. But they were made from the ht and sh of the sacrificed humans, and had both spiritual and corporeal qualities. To separate them from the

corporeal world they had to pass through a defined gateway, and somebody had to be their bearer.

Gathering resolve, he started to announce the end of his turn, but before he could say anything, a familiar form swept out from behind to kneel on one knee before the king.

"Shadi!"

Exclaims of surprise rose from the others as well. Atem had been sure that Shadi had been destroyed by Zorc's attack; he was relieved to find he was wrong.

/Forgive me for the interruption, your Grace. With your permission, I will take the Items to the other world./

Atem looked at him with surprise, but then realized that Shadi had been standing behind him. With a good view of the 4 cards still in his hand.

"Are you sure?"he asked quietly. "There will be little danger for them in that world, but they are powerful, and will be a heavy responsibility."

/I am the holder of the Ankh, and I doubt that I will have completely relaxed afterlife, either way. Besides, your Grace is needed here./

Atem sighed. The advent of Geh and Zorc had warped the dimensions greatly, and he knew that some things that should never be disturbed were now stirring. It was the

reason he was determined to seal the Items instead of returning them to their former keepers.

"I will trust you with them, then." Atem turned back to his opponent, feeling one of the cards in the grave burning. Seto really seemed to have earned its favor. "I'm sorry

for all the effort you put into this, partner, but I'll be staying."

"Oh...REALLY?!" Yugi's face lit up. "You're not going?"

"Shadi will be sealing the Items. I need to be in this world to deal with some issues."

Yugi collapsed to his knees in relief. "Thank god, we don't have to go through with this anymore."

"Not quite." Atem answered, with a teasing smile. "I activate Altar of Restoration, to return Pot of Greed to my hand!"

"Uh-oh." Jounouchi muttered.

"Draw 2 cards. Set 3 cards for Emergency Provisions."

"Um, other me?" Yugi said, apprehensively.

"Magic card, Soul Charge! Return to me, Black Magician, Black Magician girl, Sky dragon of Seth!"

"Surrender! I do not want to be hit by that!" Yugi cried.

All 4 monsters on the field vanished. Yugi rushed over to his friend and hugged-only to tumble straight through him.

"I'm sorry, Yugi. This isn't a real body." Atem placed a hand on Yugi's shoulder. The touch was faint, ghostly. "Congratulations. That was an excellent duel."

"B-but, didn't I fail you?" Yugi asked, realizing. "I wouldn't have been able to send you over..."

"Actually, I could open the gates without this procedure. The purpose of this ceremony is a trial for me, not you. As a king, I needed to find someone worthy to be my

successor, to raise him to my level and finally, hand over my status and let go of this world." Atem took care not to look in Kaiba's direction. Seto had intended his

reincarnation to be Atem's opponent in this duel. He would have been highly disturbed-an understatement-if he had known Atem's choice.

The others had gathered around the two. "You had us on the edges!" Jounouchi protested. "Why couldn't you have turned up sooner?" he demanded Shadi.

Shadi ignored him. /Your Grace? If I may?/ The spirit was in a hurry. The life force that he had gathered over the years using the Ankh had been severely damaged by Zorc

and was dissipating quickly. Soon he would not have the strength to bear the Items.

Atem nodded, understanding. He stepped towards the wall behind the Tablet. "My name is Atem."

A line of light emerged in the wall. Slowly, it parted to reveal a world of white light, gentle breeze of spritual winds blowing out to caress his face. His parents would be there,

Karim would be there, Mahad and Mana would be finally free, but...

Shadi glided past him. Atem could feel the essence of the Items flowing out to join the spirit. His own connection with the Weight was severed.

"Thank you, Shadi." Atem said. "May the Evenstar light your path."

/And may the Eternal Sun light yours, your Grace./

The doors rumbled shut. Then the entire shrine began to shake.

"Hey, what-"

"Earthquake?"

The Tablet cracked, then shattered to pieces, falling into the abyss below.

"The Items!" Yugi cried.

"Leave them!" Atem knew that they were mere shells now, soon to dissolve into particles and vanish forever.

Jonouchi grabbed his friend. "Yugi, come on!"

They all ran out, the shrine collapsing behind them.

s

s

"This is different from the other tombs," Bakura spoke breathlessly. "I've never been on any excavation sites, but I've seen photos, and they're not even close to this."

They were inside Atem's tomb. The same one that Muto Sugorouku had discovered the Millenium Puzzle in. It was majestic and beautiful. The decorations seemed to have

been made with an almost loving care.

"When civilizations fall, their culture, the knowledge they accumulated disappear with them." Isis explained. "Egypt suffered heavily from the war, and much of their wisdom

was lost. But King Atem's tomb was mostly constructed before that. Besides, he was well loved, and his successor tried to show appreciation for his sacrifice through this

tomb."

The successor's reincarnation was looking at one of the walls. Atem followed the gaze to find inscriptions of heavy grief and remorse. Sighing, he turned back to the task at

hand, and broke last of the protection spells. Carefully, Marik and Rishid lifted the lid of the sarcophagus, revealing the coffin within. To everyone present, it was as if an

intense, transparent light was suddenly blazing from it, driving the shadows to the very corners.

"Oh, god," Anzu breathed. "What is that?"

"Before, I existed as a mere shadow of my own soul, the _swt_, and the Puzzle held the _jb_, the core of my soul. In the memory world, I regained my_ b_ along with my memories,

and my_ rn_ that defined me. But my_ sh_ and _k_ is preserved here, in my flesh and bone."

"I thought the _sh_ was supposed to form when you went into the afterlife." Bakura said.

"That wasn't the way it was thought of in my days."

"Um, some little more explanation please?"Otogi asked.

"Simply put, my life force and power is sealed here, and that is what you are sensing. There is no core to hold them back, so it's natural that they are seeping out, now that

the protection spells are gone as well. Which reminds me that I should hurry."

Suddenly, Atem's form blurred, and vanished.

"Other me?!" Yugi cried out in alarm.

"Calm down," said Isis. "He has gone inside his body."

Yugi sank down on his knees and reached out lift the lid. Marik restrained him. "He's not going to be able to move immediately. Give him time, so he can regenerate his

body."

"Regenerate?" Jonouchi asked nervously. "Oh, so... he's like... those mummies..."

"Actually, no. Our ancestors still knew powerful magic in that era. From the records that have been preserved by my clan, they apparently could preserve a body in perfect

condition, as long as the spells were untouched. It's his battle injuries that have to heal, you know, from fighting Zorc."

"So we just wait? How long?" Honda asked.

"I'm not sure. Apparently he was in pretty bad shape when he sealed his soul, so I think we should give him a few hours-" Marik was interrupted by the lid of the coffin being

pushed open. "Guess not."

Slowly, laboriously, Atem sat up. Yugi gasped. So did several others.

"Surprised, partner?"

"Oh, you're... different...even from the memory world..." Yugi trailed off, at a loss.

The immediate difference they noticed was the hair, of course. Instead of the colorful spikes, smooth ebony locks hung down, long enough to reach his jawline. His forelocks

still framed his face in pretty much the same way, but minus the lightning bolt shapes. His face was also different. Even in the memory world his face had seemed to be just a

bolder-lined version of Yugi's. But they could see clearly distinguish them, the differences subtle but numerous, combining together to create a whole other impression.

"You already know that during the time I was with you, my appearance mirrored yours. The memory world was no different. That avatar you saw was based on the self-image

I had back then." Atem smiled at his friend. "And Egyptians certainly didn't have hair gel in those times."

Yugi grinned sheepishly as he helped Atem up, enabling them to have a full view of the king. Pure white tunic, loosely worn with plenty of folds. Senmoteu inlaid with blue

glass held by tasseled sash decorated with silver and blue jasper. Gold armlets with lapis lazuli surrounded by silver inlay, gold and silver wires entwined in hollow-weaves

between rows of amber on his wrists. Sheer folds of blue muslin streamed from his shoulders beneath the wesekh, which was ovals of turquoise set in gold and accented with

emeralds and amethysts. Silver and blue lotuses adorned the golden headband, beads of opal and rose quartz swung from his ears. He stepped out from the coffin, and they

could see the papyrus-woven sandels studded with blue jasper, the ankles encircled with strings of the same stone. Yugi, who was standing the closest to Atem, thought he

could smell wafts of rosemary, mint and lemon mixed with lilies.

The ancient king stood proudly, magnificient and beautiful in his finery. They all gaped at him for a few moments, until Yugi broke the silence with his concern.

"Are you alright? Marik said you had some injuries to heal..."

"I've healed myself enough to move. The rest can wait. I prefer not to recuperate inside a coffin, or a tomb, for that matter. Come on."

They all moved out. Isis caught up with Atem, who was walking at the head of the group, supported by Yugi.

"There are somethings that should be settled as quickly as possible, your Grace."

"What is it?"

"To begin with, where will you be staying? If you remain in your homeland, I can easily create a new identity for you. But I have little influence in Japan."

"Japan. I don't plan to retire from dueling just yet."

"But how can you do that?" Otogi asked. "I mean, we know it was you, Atem, who was really dueling, but everyone else just saw Yugi. He's the one known as Duel King."

"I've given the matter some thought, and I believe I can manage, if Yugi will help?"Atem looked at the other boy.

Yugi nodded enthusiastically. "Of course. Whatever you need."

"I need to be put down as a close family member to you, a brother or cousin, take your pick-"

"Brother. Definitely brother."

Atem smiled. "Thank you. Well, I can pretend to be his brother, and tell people that the media made a mistake. That the real Duel King is the other Muto Yugi."

"You're still going use that name?" Yugi asked, surprised. "I mean, it's okay if you want, but all the trouble you went to find your real name... and it would be weird if two

brothers had the same name."

"I'll use different characters, to represent my real name. Japanese parents often give their children names that are written in one way but are read in another."

"Hang on," Jonouchi interrupted. "You can't do that. There's the skin, and while your faces still somewhat look alike, there's no mistaking you for each other."

"Some of the first spells novice magicians learned in the past were ways to control and change their bodies. My skin color can easily be altered. As for my face, I and Yugi

look similar enough from a few meters away, and people's features change during teenage growth spurts, so there's an excuse. Besides, most of the duelists I've battled

looked at Yugi's face only during the few minutes of dueling-not enough time to memorize a person's image correctly. The few duelists that know Yugi's face correctly

already know about me. The only problem would be the people at school, but as far as I know Yugi's been avoiding attention from that direction-"

"I don't think I talked about being the Duel King at school to anyone outside our group," Yugi confirmed. "So you don't have to worry about them."

"What about the paperwork?" Honda wanted to know. "They keep pretty heavy guard on the databases. Do we have to hire a hacker or something?"

"Not necessary." Atem answered breezily. "I'll just do some fiddling with the people who manage those databases."

"Fiddling?"

A mischievous smile crossed Atem's face. "Completely harmless."

They didn't want to know. Anzu decided to instead ask the other question on her mind. "What characters are you going to use for your name?"

"Oh, yeah. What does 'Atem' mean?" Yugi asked.

"Directly translated it means 'the complete one', but that's not the meaning that I-and other people as well-usually associated with it. 'Atem' is my throne name, that my

court gave me when I first summoned the gods, because they thought I was the reincarnation of the king that created the 3 divine spirits. He was the first king of the

dynasty, and was revered as a god himself." Atem looked at Isis. "I believe that later Egyptians elaborated much on his story."

Isis nodded. "Atem, or Atum. The first god, the creator sun that rose from the primordial waters of chaos. The god of the setting sun, and the ender of the world."

"The last 2 versions didn't exist at the time of my reign. He was associated with the morning sun. So, the characters that I'll be using are 幽 and 暿."

They had reached the entrance. The sun had already been setting when they entered the tomb, and now it was completely dark.

"How far is it to the village?" Jonouchi wondered.

"Too far." Marik answered, walking over to one of the cars and opening the trunk. "We'll have to camp."

s

s

The young prince jumped off the railing, raising a noise of frustration from Aknadin.

He watched as the prince fell 2 stories. The boy slowed just before he met the ground and set down lightly before running across the garden, laughing. He lowered his hand

from his temple, a fierce grin coming to his face. He swept off his headress, handed it and the Rod to the elderly priest.

"Hold onto them, please."

Before Aknadin could stop him, he placed a hand on the railing and swung himself over, using the same spell to break his fall as the prince did.

"Prince! Come back here!"

"Make me!" was the joyful reply.

He sped through the garden, the lush growth often blocking his view of the prince. He rounded a bush, and something tripped his leg, causing him to fall straight into the

pool. He surfaced, sputtering, to find the prince sitting on the ledge and giggling at his expense. Calmly, before the prince could react, he used his magic to pull the boy in as

well. Shrieks of laughter erupted, making the young royal look like every other child having the time of his life.

"It is quite a distance to your rooms." Mahad was standing on the opposite side of the pool with a expression of both amusement and exasperation. "A lot of people are going

to be bemoaning the unbelievable conduct of their superiors."

"Make it three and they'll think it's an occasion, not an abnormality." stated the prince, aiming a spell at Mahad, who was quick to the defense. "I don't think so, my prince."

The prince, despite being a prodigy, was not a match for the older magician.

So he just added his own strength.

Peals of laughter rose from the prince as Mahad landed with a splash. The laughter continued as he waded over and slung the boy onto his shoulder. He knew he should be

thinking of admonishments, but right now he could not hold back his own laughter...

Kaiba sat up. It was still dark outside, and he could hear Mokuba's quiet breathing beside him. He raised his hand to his temple and rubbed, annoyed. The images, the

emotions were still vivid in his mind. He stood up, quietly put on his coat and stepped out of the tent. The moonlight was washing the sand with silver, everything deadly

quiet. He took a deep breath, trying to calm the rush of adrenaline. He could still feel the breathlessness he felt in the dream...

Something rustled, and he turned to find Atem standing only a few meters away, gazing at the dunes. Kaiba hesitated, then stepped toward his rival.

"Are you satisfied?" he asked. "The past that you have been seeking hardly seems to have been a good one."

"Terrible things happened." Atem answered quietly. "The way I died was enough to taint even my happiest memories with pain. Yet I would never regret recovering them."

Atem turned to look at Kaiba. "They are what makes me who I am. You said before, to Dartz, that darkness had no place in your heart, but for me, both are my identity-the

light and the darkness."

"Hn." Kaiba turned his head and kept his eyes on the dunes for a few moments before speaking again. "Send the details of your invented background. I will have them

worked into the databases."

Atem was surprised. "There is no need for you to trouble yourself."

"Within 2 months, my company will have taken full charge of Domino City. I will not have you tampering with the minds of my employees."

"I heard about that," Atem raised an eyebrow. "Are you really going to make everyone who applies for citzenship get their own decks?"

"Most of the new immigrants are refugees. They are not used to peaceful environments where they are provided for even without working and earning their livings. They need

challenges to spend their time and enegy on instead of getting into brawls." Kaiba turned back to the tents. "I am giving you one week."

* * *

NOTE:

1\. 'Sky dragon of Seth' isn't a mistake. I'm also changing Atem's favorite God card to Divine bird of Horus, and Marik's God card to Divine Soldier of

Osiris.(If executive producers can take liberties so can I. ) Card effects are same for each duelist-that's why Yugi surrendered. With 2 other monsters

on the field to use as tribute, he would have gotten Obelisk's 4000 point direct damage fist. Or lightning bolt, in this case.

I think I need the change for my canon later on. The god Seth suits Kaiba's character and is his namesake. And red is Seth's color.(I know blue is Kaiba's color,

but the lining of his trenchcoat is wine red, and well, Takahashi must have meant something, to make Atem and Kaiba wear each other's colors.)

Gold seems to be one of Atem's colors, and Horus is for the pharaoh, so... As for the Divine Soldier, well, blue/green is Osiris's color, and when I saw

the way Obelisk appeared in DSOD-all smoke and flames-it seemed fitting for the ruler of the netherworld, and fitting as the last enemy monster of Battle City.

2\. I had to look up a ton of stuff about Egyptian clothing and jewellery. I've tried to make it reallistic as possible, but not completely, as Atem was king

about 4000 years ago. As I had Isis say during this chapter, cultures can change drastically after a disaster. Besides, the climate then was supposed to

be different, so I think I can have Atem wearing tunic and cloak. Egyptians did wear tunics in much later ages, and long thin shawls. Senmoteu is the

narrow strip of cloth in front, although I'm not sure if that is the correct spelling. Most of the gems I mentioned were actually used commonly in Egyptian

jewellery, and I listed only the type of gems that are recognizable immediately on sight, as the description was in the POV of the people staring at

Atem-and they _would_ be staring at him, as none of them saw him in full regalia, even during the memory world. Silver was more valued than gold.

Amber was also valued, and while jasper was common enough, blue jasper is rare. I didn't find mention of opal, but Ethiopia, which is pretty close to

Egypt, is a major producer of opal. I didn't find much on rose quartz, but it was loved as the gem of beauty and youth. Egyptians weren't big on earrings

but they did use it for a period. They also used golden headbands for crowns instead of those big headresses. I chose the coloring because white and

blue/green were sacred colors for ancient egyptians, and red was a cursed color(although they did use it). The scents I listed were all used by Egyptians.

Apparently the perfume they found in Tutankhamun's tomb still smelled good after 3000 years.

3\. Yugi's name is 遊戯, meaning game, or to play, as you all know. The name Atem chose-幽暿-could be read as Yugi too, but his friends can draw from the

meaning of the characters and read it as Atem. Some of the Japanese names are like that. Sometimes you have to read them by character pronunciation,

or in Hiragana, or disregard the pronunciation entirely and read by meaning. One example is 海月, meaning Moon of the Ocean, and intended to be read

as Mizuki. But normally those characters are read as 'kurage' in Japanese, which means jellyfish. 幽 has several meanings: quiet, deep, dark, supernatural,

of the netherworld, black, mind. 暿 can mean: to shine, bright day, prosper, dawn, brightly illuminate, burn fiercely. As chinese characters are used not only

for individual meanings but also as composites, 幽暿 can be generally interpreted as something like 'light of dawn rising from deep darkness'.

4\. About the dream: There's a scene in the anime where Seto is getting initiated as Priest of the Rod. Atem is standing next to his father's throne in that

scene, and from their appearances, they have to be at least 6 to 8 years apart in age.

5\. The last exchange was inspired from Aigami's remark to Kaiba from DSOD, of course.

Finally done with the prologue!


	3. Chapter 3

C3

Atem set down the cartouche and sighed. He stood up, then had to lean on the desk to get his

balance back. Now that he no longer needed to keep hold on Zorc, he was in full use of his powers,

but laying this particular enchantment had been more than enough to drain him.

He opened the door of his room and walked across the living room to his brother's.

"Yugi? I'm done."

The door opened. "Can I see it?"

"Not now, it's still settlng in. I placed a containment seal on it but it may still be dangerous.

But the hard part is over with."

"Good. Just in time for DuelMon View." For the last 6 hours Yugi had been holed up in his room, in

an effort not to make any noise that might distract Atem in his work. It was a relief to be free.

"DuelMon View?"

"It's a new program on my favorite game channel. Indutrial Illusions sponsored."

"So there's going to be TV programs about it now? KC must be working hard."

Duel Monsters used to be an inconspicuous game, but ever since Kaiba had rented the entire

Domino City for a tournament it had started to gain public attention. And since KC Grandprix,

the popularity had skyrocketed.

"You know how II only uploaded duels in the finals on Youtube? Well, they've gone back and

dug up the records of all official tournaments and they're showing the good duels. Come on,

you can watch it, too."

Yugi looked carefully at Atem as they settled into the couch. His friend never let his problems

show if he could help it, but now he was showing unusual signs. Whenever Atem was tired or

in pain, his pose got straighter, his voice lower and more forceful. But now there was a distinct

heaviness to his movements, and his voice kept going from his usual baritone back up to his natural

tenor. Was he _that_ much fatigued? So much that he couldn't even control himself?

"You okay?" Yugi asked.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired."

"Maybe you should just take a nap or something-"

"I can't sleep now. Not until it's completed. Let's just watch the show, it'll help keep me awake."

Well, at least he was admitting he was exhausted.

The duel of the day happened to be Kaiba's, of all people. They watched as the 14-year-old version

of him wiped the field with Black hole and Heavy Storm, summoned Lord of Dragons, then used

The Flute of Summoning Dragon to summon 2 Blue Eyes and blasted the opponent's life points to zero.

"He does that a lot." Yugi remarked.

"Either that, or the Virus cards." Atem answered. "I suppose he doesn't see the point in dueling most people."

"Wonder why he plays it anyway," Yugi said. "I mean, it's not like he enjoys it."

"He does. Just not the way you do. And he loves battle for its own sake."

"I thought he hated wars."

"Because it kills people that aren't ready to die. Battle against people who are, or at least those

that deserve it, is fine."

Yugi jerked at that. He looked at Atem. "Nobody deserves to die."

"Do you still think so, Yugi?" Atem asked quietly. "After everything you saw last year?"

Yugi shook his head. "It can't be right, killing people." He wondered how zoning out on the TV had

suddenly turned into this.

"In the old days, punishment by death, not just by the law, but also as personal vengeance, was

what was right for serious misdoings."

"But that was before, people know better now." Yugi insisted.

"I would say that people have more capacity to be lenient with criminals," Atem answered. "Still, you

have a point: laws that harsh aren't needed in this age." He glanced at the clock and stood up.

"That's enough rest. I should get back to keep an eye on the talisman."

"Okay. Do you want me to record this for you?"

"No, it's fine."

Once back in the room, Atem suppressed an urge to throw himself onto the bed and instead,

sat down on the chair. Since the day he turned 10, he had been taught to behave in solitude the

same way he would act when others' eyes were present. It was good practice and kept him from

unconsciously slipping into wrong gestures.

He leaned back and crossed his legs. Being a few meters further away would hardly prevent him

from reacting to a break in the seal, and Yugi must have seen through the excuse. Yet he had

chosen to pretend he hadn't.

The matter had always been between them, ever since Atem had nearly killed Kaiba at Duelist

Kingdom. Yugi had been terrified of Atem then, and while seeing Atem rising to fight Pegasus

for Kaiba's soul had alleviated most of that fear, he had not understood either act. And he never

spoke of the matter again. Not even when Atem tried to leave Pandora to his death during

Battle City.

Yugi wasn't wrong; Atem knew that the 21st century was much more lenient on human beings,

imbued them with more value than other eras. People could afford to make mistakes, afford to

keep alive those that their ancestors would have considered worthless trash. Yugi wouldn't be

the only one to avoid harming other humans at all costs, and while Atem thought it couldn't

possibly be a completely healthy state of mind, the way Yugi could not distinguish between

kindness and selflessness, he still loved his brother's capability for compassion. And Yugi did

understand that you had to fight and destroy your enemies in some contexts.

It was during duels that problems arose. Despite everything that had happened, Yugi, as well as

Jonouchi and the others, still saw Duel Monsters as the innocent gameplay they originally knew it as,

and considered the Games of Darkness a despicable twist. Yet to Atem, the sacrifice of life and soul

was what he knew to be its true form, and what made it worthy.

S

S

S

"_Even if the truth had remained as it was, it would still not have lasted." she said. "Your bloodline_

_would not last. _**Egypt**_ would not last. As time pass, all will fall into dust and be forgotten."_

"_If it is going to be forgotten anyway, why should I go through with this, this _**monstrosity**_?!"_

"_Because it will not stay so. Shards of us will remain, and the shards will resurface-his name must_

_not be among them."_

"_It isn't enough that his soul will be shattered into dozens of pieces-his name, the name of the _

_greatest king to walk this earth, has to be destroyed like that of some criminal-"_

"_Is it your grief that prevents you, or is it that you don't want to become even more of a failure?"_

"_Go ahead, do what you want to me. But I will not end it like this-"_

"…"

"…"

"…_.."_

"_-let it be so, then. And my blood will carry a part of the burden, engraved into flesh."_

_S_

"-ster, Sister!"

Isis snapped back to attention. Marik was giving her a worried look.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sorry."

Her brother looked unconvinced. "You do that a lot these days," he said.

"I just have something on my mind, but it's nothing you should be worrying about," she lied.

"Is something wrong at the bureau?"

"No, it's personal, and you really don't have to worry."

"Well, you can always talk to me-"

Isis decided to adopt a different tactic. "Now, Marik, everyone has private things they don't want

to talk about to anyone, not even dear little brothers." She smiled teasingly. "How would you

answer if I asked what your plans were with that girl you were looking at yesterday?"

Marik blushed. "Oh, come on-"

"You see?"

"Really," her brother protested. "I don't have plans for….anything of that kind, sister. I'm in over my

head, trying to clean up my own mess."

"And where were we with that? You said something about meeting with Pegasus?"

Marik nodded. "He should be the one to know best about how the cards are circulated. Of course

I should talk with him."

The conversation had successfully been returned to its original topic, and Marik did not ask after

her again. Isis was relieved. She didn't know exactly how her brother would react if he heard the

truth, but he had been so happy when his duties as a Gravekeeper had been fulfilled, that she

did not have the heart to tell him.

While she knew that the duties had been handed down for millennia and that the bond with

the past was deep and strong, she had never imagined it to be anything more than being part

of the clan, nothing personal, and had thought it completely severed when the duties ended.

So why were the memories of the ancient priestess returning?

* * *

NOTE: I remember someone remarking once how it was almost weird, the way the 2 Yugis got on so well with each other.

It's not like they didn't have different opinions on some matters.

I also once saw a 'personality scale' Takahashi used to decide on his character's actions. One of the scale was self-love vs altruism,

1 to 5 for either way. Kaiba had scale 4 for self-love. Atem had scale 2 for altruism. Anzu had scale 3 for altruism. Yugi had scale

4 for altruism. I didn't see anyone with scale 5 for for altruism, although not all the characters were on the list, so there may be

someone. Anyway, I don't consider scale 4 for either self-love or altruism to be a completely healthy state of mind.

By the way, another of the scales was self-control vs 電波度. Normally, 電波度 means a tendency to do odd things(being a 電波 type

means that you're insane) but since the other end of the scale is self-control I'm guessing that Takahashi also meant the tendency to

follow your desires and impulses-and it turns out that normal Bakura is scale 5 on 電波度, while Kaiba, Yami Bakura and Yami Bakura

was scale 4 on 電波度. Now that was spooky.

About Atem's powers-the holders of the other Items showed some awesome powers, like the time Marik repelled bullets. But we

never see a lot of Atem's powers. If he wants to damage someone, it has to be done through a game. And he couldn't protect himself

against Pegasus's Eye(Major contrast to Jonouchi, who wasn't even an Item holder and still threw Marik off). So I'm guessing that

most of his soul-power was locked up in the seal keeping Zorc down.

About Atem's voice-if you watch the Japanese anime throughly, you can discover that his natural voice(or at least his voice actor's) is

quite high-toned, but he forces it down into low-key.


	4. Chapter 4

Anzu nearly choked on her coffee. "He did what?"

"Cut his hair. Undyed it, too."

"He's had that hairstyle for ages-"

"He's been shopping for new clothes as well. Now he has actual outdoor outfits."

"Wait, is that why he always went around in his school uniform? Because he didn't have go-out clothes?"

"A lot of the clothes he used to have looked worn-out, so he avoided them." Atem explained. "Remember, it's only been a year since

he became friends with Jonouchi and Honda, and you two haven't played with each other since you were both little children, so he

didn't really have any occasion to spend time outside the house, aside from school."

"I see..." Anzu felt a little guilty for the time she left Yugi alone, but she and Yugi hadn't been close for years, until the time he saved

her from an escaped convict. Although, that hadn't really been Yugi. "But that doesn't explain his hair."

"It's not really surprising is it? If he's had it for so long, he's bound to tire of it sooner or later." Atem knew the real reason; the hair,

and the tough-guy clothes were Yugi's way of self-therapy, hoping that his personality would toughen up as well. After all, that was

why students were made to wear uniforms-to make them more orderly and better behaved. And it was a good sign, that Yugi no longer

wanted those shells. But Atem wasn't about to admit that to anyone, not even to Anzu.

He took another sip of his 'cold-brew'. "Are you sure this is their best?"

"Don't you like it?"

"It's fine, but I don't see why people like it." He looked around. "I'm actually surprised you chose this place. I thought you would

pick someplace more traditonal. It's Kyoto."

They had arrived the night before, and checked into a hotel in the middle of rather crowded shopping district called Sanjo Kawaramachi.

And now, after a 40 minute walk they were having breakfast at Cafe Blue Bottle.

"I picked out a tea shop for the afternoon-Saryou Housen. You'll get plenty of traditional there."

"Where else are we going today?"

"Nanjenji first, then the Road of Philosophy maybe, if Nanjenji is alright. Then Saryou Housen, and down to Heian Shrine. Then we'll

come back to Myakomesse and follow the river to Gion Sirakawa."

"What do you mean, if Nanjenji is alright?"

Anzu got a glum look. "It's been raining. The cherry blossoms are why I picked Nanjenji and the Road of Philosophy, and with the rains

the blossoms might have all fallen off. We'll see when we get to Nanjenji. And I'm not sure about walking alongside the river to Gion, either.

The length we walked past this morning smelled like wet moss."

"Cherry blossoms, huh? I can see you picked the places the others would never go."

"Of course. It's no fun if there's a couple of grouchers you have to drag along with you."

They had let Anzu pick the destination, to make up for all the times the boys had dragged her to the arcade. But when she chose Kyoto for the

Hollyhock Festival, a chorus of whines had risen from the others. But they wouldn't be here until the next day, so she was going to go through the places

she liked before the other boys arrived-she knew Atem wouldn't grouch. And cherry blossoms were romantic.

"I never thought you'd be interested in Japan's traditions."

"I'm going to live here," Atem answered. "I should know more about it."

Anzu looked at Atem carefully. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Why did you decide to stay here? I mean, we're happy you're with us, but I thought you would want to live in your homecountry, especially now

that you have your memories back. You could have kept dueling in Egypt."

Atem was quiet for a moment. "It's because I have my memories back."

"Huh?"

"The desert used to be much smaller," he said, softly. "The land was more lush, the Nile was still graced by the Heavens and the Earth, the people

were more alive."

"It's...different?" She asked tentatively.

"After I saw the tablet at the museum, I made an effort to know more about the country... When I died, I never expected my kingdom to be once

more what it used to be, not after such destruction," said Atem. "My father named the Millenium Items so because even with the grace of Gods,

a millenia was the limit of his wildest dreams."

"But I never expected that Egypt, as I knew it, would die so throughly. All of its grandeur lies in ruins, even the recent ones. The gods, the old culture

is forgotten..." Atem seemed to shudder. "And I think, that I could have accepted even all that, if only the people had tried to remember."

A distant look came into his eyes. "Kyoto must be an amazing city, with millenia preserved and cherished..." He smiled. "This is my only home, now."

Anzu stared at him. That time, when Yugi's soul had been taken by Doma, what she saw in Atem was despair more than anything else. This was the

first time that she saw in him something like heartbreak.

Before she could say anything, a computer pad was thrust between them.

"Ah, then perhaps you'll be pleased by this."

Pegasus was standing before them, his 19th-century suit so completely out of place that for a moment Anzu wondered if she was hallucinating.

"What are you doing here?" Atem asked, just as surprised.

"Getting ideas for the next card pack. And some of them are in your honor."

Anzu read the titles above the images; Floating Ghost of Cherry Blossoms, Spring Cheerful, Child in the Mansion...

"Zombies?" Atem looked more amused than offended.

"Closest thing I could think of to a resurrected spirit. I did consider Spellcaster, but that type is already too powerful."

"Well, you're the creator of the game."

"And since I ran into you, I might as well ask-would you mind terribly if the stock dividends were lowered?"

"Not at all-is something wrong?"

"Not really. You know that the game is getting more popular every second, and now's a great time for some projects."

"Take all you want, I don't need it." The Tombkeeper clan had, along with their duties, been given the charge of assets of considerable

size, enabling them to stay hidden and maintain themselves for millenias. The Ishtars had wanted none of it, wanting a clean break with the past.

Atem checked the time. "We should get going." Before they both ran out of topics to discuss.

"Good day to you then, I hope you enjoy the festival too."

When Atem rose and made for the counter, Pegasus held Anzu back.

"Look after him, my dear," he whispered. "You are not his closest friends; they're dead."

S

S

S

"Oh, come on, Jonouchi." Honda said. "After everything you're scared of foxes and raccons?"

"Just tell me when you're done." Jonouchi's muffled voice came from behind the couch.

It was the night before they left for Kyoto. They had wanted to leave the day before, but after Honda had flunked the last test, his parents

had grounded him with a load of chores in the family business, and Honda had dragged Jonouchi into it. In fact, the only reason he was being

allowed to leave tomorrow, was because Yugi was going, and his parents knew Yugi was the one that had gotten his son out of juvenile delinquency.

Too bad Yugi had been grounded as well. He hadn't finished on time his homework from his brother, who had told Yugi that if he aimed to be

anything in his life other than a couch potato, he needed to get his grades out of the graveyard.

"Maybe I should take a picture of you." Honda said, musingly. "Send it to Kaiba."

"Don't you dare!"

"Seriously-"

"After everything we've done, I should know something dangerous could really come!"

"Guys, I'm ready." Yugi announced.

When Honda and Jonouchi had finished packing, they had gone over to Yugi's house to check on him. Yugi had let the house com greet them,

and they had entered to find him sprawled out on the floor, making marks on a large sheet of paper, the plate next to him holding a piece of rice

cake, a coin and a small, make-shift torii. Jonouchi had taken one look and dived behind the couch.

"Let's just go without him," Honda said, placing a finger on the coin. "Ready?"

"OK. Kokkurisan, kokkurisan, " Yugi said. "Please come to us. If you are here-"

"Why not just say Kuriboh-"

S

S

S

_He was looking down at the palace grounds, feeling the wind tussel his hair, when he heard the footsteps. A moment later, Aknadin had joined_

_him. The elder priest gave him a long sideways glance before speaking._

_"I see the king has taught you a lesson."_

_"He beat me with a little furball," he said, still in a bit of a shock._

_Aknadin chuckled. "The only reason he hasn't beaten you or Mahad before, is because you both have years of experience on him. It's about time_

_he caught up."_

_"Yes."_

_His mentor sighed. "I don't mean this badly," Aknadin began. "But... Seto, he's the king now. You need to stop thinking of him as your little brother."_

_"I never thought of him as my brother-"_

_"But your heart feels it, does it not?"_

_"I would not be so presumptuous as to-"_

_"If that came from anyone other than the holder of the Rod, I might actually have believed it."_

_He fell silent. An overbearing personality was one of the qualities that the bearer of the Rod needed, to crush the wills of those under its control, and_

_all the priests knew it. It was the reason his colleagues put up with him, in addition to him being their senior._

_"He's the king," Aknadin continued. "And while it is still your job to defend him, it is no longer your place to protect him."_

_"I fail to see the difference, my lord."_

_"I am sure you do, sir." Aknadin countered._

_"He's only 14."_

_"All the more reason not to add to his burden." The old priest seemed to sag a little. "Really, don't, Seto."_

_Something in Aknadin's voice caught his attention._

_"Is something wrong?" he asked._

_"You know what troubles we're having."_

_"Aside from greedy idiots trying to shove their paws in everywhere."_

_Aknadin snorted. "I swear I don't know how you manage diplomacy missions." A worn hand rose up to finger the Millenium Key. "His spirit worries me."_

_"The furball?"_

_"It shatters itself into a hundred pieces to protect," said Aknadin. "It's the first spirit he created, and I can't help but wonder what he was thinking at the time-"_

S

They could make those things? was the first thought in Kaiba's mind as he came back to reality. He pushed it away to focus on the speaker. It looked like

he had been out for only a few moments.

"-and that will be all. Thank you."

Probably not. He would have to watch the records later.

Soft clapping came from the various people in the room. Kaiba announced the meeting closed and stood up to leave.

On the way back to his office, Mokuba caught up. "What do you think?"

"There's nothing really new, is there?" Kaiba said. "It all comes down to the same problems-the game's too complicated for the masses, and there aren't

enough good duelists for it to be turned into a sport."

"But what about the thing at the end? An online network for people to duel. It would get them experience."

That was the part he had missed. "We'll see. If it's a question of improving their skills, it's probably more effective to set up an educational program."

"Or a school," Mokuba said, excitedly. "A school just for duelists-" The rest was cut off as Kaiba grabbed the scruff of the boy's neck and yanked towards

himself, having felt the twinge before the actual explosion.

* * *

NOTE:

-The card names are translations of the Japanese names. English names are: Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion

-The festival is 葵祭. It takes place in May and is one of the 3 major festivals of Kyoto.

-If you didn't recognize the scene, Yugi had set up a ritual called Kokkuri-san, which is supposed to call low level, animal ghosts. Kokkuri represents 'dog, fox and raccon'

Ghosts seem to be one of the few things that get a terror response out of Jonouchi in the anime.

-Atem's choice: This is, by the way, the main reason he didn't want to stay in Egypt. Not dueling.

-Stock dividends: Remember, in Duelist Kingdom Pegasus promised 60% of the company's stocks to the person that could defeat him.

-The vision: I'm sure you remember that the memory world isn't what really happened. So I made Atem 14 years old at that point.

P.S. I'm not kidding about the wet moss smell. It's not a totally bad smell, but it takes a lot out of a walk.


End file.
